If you’re gonna do a thing, you might as well do it right
— Daryl Dixon
If today was not a crooked highway
If tonight was not a crooked trail
If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all
Yes and only if my own true love was waitin’
And if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin’
Yes, only if she was lyin’ by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again
I’ve come across that phrase a time or two, but I’d never heard it before when I came up with it over 20 years ago for my unfinished book. I’m not saying I invented it — I’m saying I’d never heard it before. If came into this cold — I’d instantly be able to establish something about this person on specificity & forthrightness alone. It would have sounded better with “the book I’m writing” and leaving off how long ago I started it. I opted for the unimpressive route — because that’s the truth.
A couple days ago I saw someone with that phrase in their Twitter bio and sent her a nod of appreciation. It turns out that her father taught her that when she was young. She acknowledged it took a long time to take root — and her feedback that follows shows such growth. While I greatly appreciate the compliment, I’m far more interested in her manner of thinking — which is why I bolded what impressed me most.
Once again, when you’re looking: You can see a lot in very little.
You’re an excellent writer. I haven’t MADE time to read your postings in a setting where I can have the opportunity to absorb and process them, to fully appreciate what you are writing! My intention is pure, though! And I am setting aside some time for myself to do that soon! It’s refreshing to run across unique positions that scream common sense. Isn’t that a sad statement?
Who knew that a little nod of approval would lead to all that. “Made time” in lowercase would have been striking alone — but to capitalize it was killer. That speaks volumes — as does everything else in her attitude as rare as unobtainium on Pandora these days.
Speaking of attitude & setting:
Then one day at the end of my thirty-seventh year, while taking a spring Sunday walk, I happened upon a neighbor in the process of repairing a lawn mower. After greeting him I remarked, “Boy, I sure admire you. I’ve never been able to fix those kind of things or do anything like that.” My neighbor, without a moment’s hesitation, shot back, “That’s because you don’t take the time.” I resumed my walk, somehow disquieted by the gurulike simplicity, spontaneity and definitiveness of his response.
“You don’t suppose he could be right, do you?” I asked myself.
Somehow it registered, and the next time the opportunity presented itself to make a minor repair I was able to remind myself to take my time. The parking brake was stuck on a patient’s car, and she knew that there was something one could do under the dashboard to release it, but she didn’t know what. I lay down on the floor below the front seat of her car.
Then I took the time to make myself comfortable. Once I was comfortable, I then took the time to look at the situation. . . .
At first all I saw was a confusing jumble of wires and tubes and rods, whose meaning I did not know.
But gradually, in no hurry, I was able to focus my sight . . . I slowly studied this latch until it became clear to me . . . One single motion, one ounce of pressure from a fingertip, and the problem was solved.
Clearing the Clutter Can Be Quite Revealing
And lo and behold, that’s what this is all about:
And this . . .
Succinctly captures why there’s so much clutter.
You’re an excellent writer . . .
I’m not used anything in the domain of decency — let alone compliments like that.
I’ll swim across a river of insults to get to a meeting of the minds on the other side. But we’d get there a helluva lot faster if you’d just show a little grace in the give-and-take of information. Ridicule just rolls right off me anymore. I’m not dealing with individuals — I’m dealing with a collective machine that’s been programmed to put me down. My job is to jam up the gears — and get these gears going again:
I like the cut of your jib, sir
And then there are those memorable moments when someone surprises you with the simplicity and elegance of a line like that. Taking on the entire country by myself is not a path to popularity. But from time to time — it’s nice to reminded of the humanity that’s still out there.
In a sea of insults, one kind comment is like wind in your sails.
For 20 years . . .
I’ve been practically spit on for telling undeniable truth of mathematical certainty (on a matter of world-altering consequence that shaped everything you see today). If you strip away all the crap that clouds that issue — all would become clear in the material properties of the matter.
To ascertain the truth on any topic:
If you’ve got something concrete to go on — that’s your point of entry. By all means, keep the door open in every direction. But by nailing down the definitive first, it paves a clearer path to all the rest. This country does the exact opposite on everything: Lumping it all together and never even approaching where you should have started in the first place.
With the rare exception of Titan: Where the entire world had no trouble understanding baseline information on materials:
I’m a retired engineer, electrical not mechanical. You are absolutely correct about technical limits on materials such as this sub design. It’s insane this guy took the sub to its breaking point. It’s sad but a good lesson to future explorers. Don’t push the physical limitations of the materials and design.
— YouTube user
Strikingly similar principles — don’t ya think?
D.O.E.’s standard is to spin a tube at 20% above 90,000 RPM before failure — so 48,000 short is a pretty loose definition of ‘rough indication.’ . . .
Out of 31 tubes in subsequent testing, only one was successfully spun to 90,000 RPM for 65 minutes — which the C.I.A. seized on as evidence in their favor. One D.O.E. analyst offered a superb analogy of that contorted conclusion:
“Running your car up to 6,500 RPM briefly does not prove that you can run your car at 6,500 RPM cross country. It just doesn’t. Your car’s not going to make it.”
In an industry where fractions of a millimeter matter, these guys were playing horseshoes with centrifuge physics.
— Richard W. Memmer: Act II
For my efforts in taking both parties to task on the biggest & most costly lie in modern history (as well as other issues at the core of America’s decline): I am rarely met with anything but contempt — laced with spectacularly stupid & childish behavior.
Nowhere to be found is all that “I’m an engineer” jazz and taking pride in applying your intelligence to the issue. And forget even a hint of anything remotely in the realm of what inspired this post:
Making time, Absorbing. Processing. Fully appreciating. Having pure intentions. Recognizing common sense and unique positions, etc.
But gems like these below are aplenty: Asinine comments I would not have imagined possible in the America of my youth. So, on an issue involving the separation of uranium isotopes — you wanna ignore the evidence to show off your math skills by splitting hairs over the meaning of “mathematical certainty”?
by the way
Decorating your points with special punctuation does not make meaningless crap magically have merit. Whatever you think of my efforts — we can at least agree that they don’t look anything like that.
And yet that — is the way of the world now.
Adulthood is about spending the time to think before talking . . . Adulthood is about controlling our emotions, learning to take a deep breath and modulating our moments of anger or frustration.
Titan gets tons of talk and countless hours of coverage — which comes complete with in-depth analysis and thoughtful discussion on the whole. I understand the allure. But what never ceases to amaze me is how people could be so sensible in one context and completely abandon their senses in another.
What’s more, they make it impossible to even have the conversation (let alone understand what it’s about).
I watched this digital scan of the Titanic wreckage with fascination — and that would have been the end of it until this bit below. I respect the reporting and the passion of the people behind these efforts. What I take issue with is a culture that craves detail at the depths of Titanic while issues of world-altering consequence are skated over on the surface.
Despite how extensively the Titanic has been explored — there are still many fundamental questions. The hope is this scan could provide answers. We really don’t understand the character of the collision with the iceberg.
We don’t even know if she hit it along the starboard side as shown in all the movies. She might have grounded on the iceberg — and this photogrammetry model is one of the first major steps to driving the Titanic Story toward evidence-based research and not speculation.
This nation no longer understands the meaning of character — and we’re talking about the character of a collision with an iceberg in 1912? Again, I’m not trying to take anything away from the passion in their purpose (and those who take an interest in it):
But come on . . .
Show some commitment & cohesion in how you carry yourselves when considering issues that challenge your calcified convictions. And if you’ve got the goods to back up your beliefs — they should be able to survive scrutiny, shouldn’t they?
Historic Travels is a great YouTube channel for Titanic history and analysis. Wouldn’t it be preposterous to tell that guy he’s wrong simply because of something you saw in the blockbuster? And yet countless millions pull that stunt on a daily basis in slavish of their interests: Doing catastrophic damage to those ideals they so desperately defend.
Speaking of Cameron:
Here we are again. And at the same place. Now there’s one wreck lying next to the other wreck for the same damn reason.
A lot of that goin’ around
To see the character of the government and the country so sported with, exposed to so indelible a blot, puts my heart to the torture. . . . Or what is it that thus torments me at a circumstance so calmly viewed by almost everybody else? Am I a fool, a romantic Quixote, or is there a constitutional defect in the American mind?
Were it not for yourself and a few others, I . . . would say . . . there is something in our climate which belittles every animal, human or brute. . . . I disclose to you without reserve the state of my mind. It is discontented and gloomy in the extreme.
I consider the cause of good government as having been put to an issue and the verdict against it.
The problems that plague America are interrelated, and anything short of addressing that is going nowhere. But everyone’s wrapped up in their wheelhouse — operating under umbrellas of interests that don’t account for complexities outside of them.
Just picking the “root cause” that works for you doesn’t get it done. You’ve gotta look at interconnected causes across-the-board.
My efforts revolve around how people allow emotion to run roughshod over reason when their interests are at stake. Just doing another doc on that world-altering issue alone would do nothing to impact that aim. I was out to tell a larger story, but to convey fair-mindedness — I needed a way to illustrate irrational behavior without showing any favoritism.
And the aftermath of another controversial topic was just the ticket.
Eleven years ago, I was back on the book when I went to interview a world-renowned nuclear scientist for my research. Some prominent people interviewed him too. A handful did a great job and others something less. But none of ’em did what I did — as they all told a slice of the story, whereas I told the entire story (from every angle that matters most). To be sure, their work was more than enough to put these lies in their place. It wasn’t the quality of their work — it was the quality of their audience.
When I walked in the door upon my return from that trip — I got a call about what was going on in the news. And right on cue, everyone went to their corners of conviction. Thanks to the internet and the cable clans paving the way for the onslaught of the utterly absurd — everything is poisoned by perception and hypocrisy now. America’s in perennial pursuit of ideologies — warfare waged with galactic levels of baggage & bullshit bolstered by . . .
opinions lightly adopted but firmly held . . . forged from a combination of ignorance, dishonesty, and fashion
— Theodore Dalrymple, Life at the Bottom
In that outrage-of-the-moment, a massively poplar pundit asked a perfectly valid question that was met with a meaningless answer. But when the tables were turned (in the aftermath of a topic of world-altering magnitude): That same person posed no such questions. And lo and behold, anyone who did was met with meaningless answers and mockery at best. His flagrant failure to abide by the rules he rails on others for failing to follow:
Became of the basis of the Profile Principle.
I can tell you exactly how many times that pundit discussed the evidence on display with those props: Zero! How I do I know that? Because I had access — to everything:
I did the math
On this story: 10 pages of reading trumps 10,000 hours of TV — cable clans & broadcast to boot. And that’s a fact — I did the math. Who cares about 10 pages when “you can’t believe everything you read”? Same standard to snub someone who’s read 10,000 — on world-altering affairs you snicker at.
And I noticed “you can’t believe everything you read” only applies to words you don’t like.
The connection between seemingly unrelated stories becomes clear pretty quickly, but still that wasn’t enough to ward off confusion. 3 minutes and 33 seconds into the Prologue — the parallel in the Profile Principle is revealed. But right on cue with the times: People make up their minds on lickety-split perception alone. Just by taking a moment to absorb what someone’s saying (perhaps with a little patience, a modicum of courtesy, and a couple minutes more):
Ahhh . . .now I see where he’s going with this
Imagine!
But you’re busy — you’re always busy:
Putting aside Bill Cosby’s fall from grace . . .
He was a universal icon of goodness growing up. In just this 5-second scene from Picture Pages — a parallel can be drawn to everything I advocate on this site:
The.Deal.Is.That.We.Connect.These.Dots . . .
You see
There are powerful forces that make damn sure you don’t — and shows!
On the title alone
If I came across this and hadn’t done my homework — my first thought would be:
I must be missing something pretty big . . .
America has other ideas:
Button your lip and don’t let the shield slip
Take a fresh grip on your bulletproof mask
And if they try to break down your disguise with their questions
You can hide hide hide behind Paranoid Eyes
Back then it was about going up against institutions and all of America. Now? It’s about getting to one man. A professional know-it-all who fabricated a fantasyland of “following the facts where they lead.” The cult-like following of this fraud is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. As I’ve been in the trenches battling hermetically sealed minds for decades, that’s saying something. His disciples see him as some kind of saint-like Sherlock Holmes:
Never mind his history being wildly out of sync with his sanctimonious claims.
On top of flagrantly ignoring evidence as concrete as it gets, he has a habit of toeing the party line: All of which flies in the face of the principles upon which he’s put on a pedestal. For anyone who challenges that — they share their values with venom.
And that — is an opportunity!
How do we make people realize they’ve been lied to? You have to knock down one small pillar that’s easier to reach.
The people who Tweeted those lines I combined from a conversation I came across — had no idea that they perfectly captured the principle of my Clear the Clutter plan. It’s time to start solving problems instead of endlessly talking about them and getting nowhere. To do that — first we gotta clear the clutter that’s crippled this country. And to do that, you don’t go after everything, you go after one thing that ties to everything — and you do it by holding one man to his own standards.
A student wrote of her psychology professor and co-author of the book below:
Tim Wilson taught me the importance of breaking problems down into more manageable pieces.
Lo and behold, at the bedrock of my idea is exactly that. And I don’t need mass appeal to make this happen, I just need to get to one man. Their field is forever fighting the forces of human nature while my solution banks on it. To understand that — you’d have to understand the story and different motivations of the influential figures involved.
It’s a domino effect by design — and whad’ya know:
Elliot Aronson was chosen by his peers as one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century
— Amazon’s About the Author
The forward he wrote in When Prophecy Fails was super helpful in framing my message in my documentary that illustrates the psychological gymnastics of human nature. Dr. Aronson was helpful again when he put me onto his friend and fellow renowned psychologist, Dr. Phil Zimbardo — “a very smart guy with incredible energy,” he added. Since Dr. Zimbardo is 90 years old — that’s saying something. For medical reasons, he’s unable to get involved, but in response to an email on the essence of my idea, he wrote:
Very Interesting and original
Even in his condition — he could see what so many can’t. They’re busy — and why bother considering fresh ideas that might work when you can stay busy on what won’t?
I’ve got the perfect pillar
As exposing Sowell is my bridge to expose it all:
I’m not just taking Thomas Sowell to task because he’s got it comin’ — I need this guy for what I have in mind to right this ship. The ultimate irony is that blind loyalty limits him — while my criticism could elevate him to heights that hero-worship ensures he’ll never go.
So, you’re saying that your plan will elevate Sowell to worldwide recognition — by holding him accountable? That if he comes clean — he could be the catalyst to turn the tide?
That’s exactly what I’m saying
It won’t matter that he blew it on WMD or why — all that matters is having the guts to say: “I was wrong and I’m trying to make it right.” In a culture consumed with feeling right, wouldn’t it be refreshing to talk about the immeasurable value in the willingness to be wrong?
Don’t just tell people how to behave: Lead by example — especially when it comes at a cost! Compelling him to admit where he’s wrong will work wonders for where he’s right. There are far worse culprits on all-things Iraq, but I’ve been down that road for decades. Discovering Sowell and the underworld of absurdity that shields him — makes him ideal to put these lies in their place once and for all:
And change the dynamic of debate to boot.
Elevating him is not my aim, but I can live with it to stem the systematic self-delusion that’s taken this nation totally off the rails:
Left & Right
A 19-year-old kid came across my writings a few years ago on Reddit (another cesspool of certitude I can’t stand). But with his words below, he reminded me of my approach to appreciating others. As with the origin of this post, my aim is to make a point about praise — not to advertise it.
I want to thank you for giving these two in-depth responses – ones of immense quality and refinement. It must be draining to know that 99% of the time, people won’t read something so long – so well thought out – so in-depth. Thank you for doing it anyways. Just as writing these helps you refine your viewpoints, reading and responding to this helps me refine mine.
At one point, he remarked that he imagined me having a vast library with how well-read I appear to me. I’d love to be able to live up that image, but it’s not true and I made that known. Thomas Sowell has no such notion — as this guy’s is a master manufacturing illusion. But I saw right through it.
It took me all of 10 minutes to size up Sowell. On WMD — it took 2.
That kid was the catalyst for One Voice Became Two. But that symbol is shared by others who offered kind words of encouragement. Most were short replies and others packed a punch with one line alone (including some high praise from a fairly prominent personality). He once called my writing “brilliant” and was “honored by it” — as well as being “blown away” by my site and signed up.
Alas, he wasn’t too keen on the truth when I took his hero to task. Nevertheless, he made a difference — just as that kid did and a handful of others who took a little time to see what I had to say and appreciate it.
In the spirit of You Got Gold:
But you know a lot a little will do
It astounds me that even sharing something in hopes of a human connection — that maybe having something in common could connect in a way that undeniable evidence doesn’t: Even that is mocked — and conveniently taken as “weakness” in argument. So in the face of centrifuge physics: Belittling my “disjointed” & “juvenile” website with “irrelevant music & movies” is the best ya got?
Anyone entering this discussion with sincerity — would come away realizing that there is no debate, and there never was.
They just made it up
Not long before this Tweet — this Sowell supporter was condemning my efforts like all the rest that day (and every day).
And then he opened the doc . . .
In response to my appreciation, he replied with a sincere question that’s central to the whole story. Imagine — asking questions in the pursuit of truth & understanding. Not to mention the importance of politeness and the courtesy in following up (as I had missed it the first time):
Glad to help. I don’t know if you saw my other comment — so I’ll post it again here. Why is it you chose to take Sowell to task on the WMD issue? Sowell is more well known for his positions on economics and sociology than he is for foreign policy. I was just curious.
“I was just curious” . . .
“To learn to ask: ‘Is that true?’” . . .
Maybe there’s something to what she just said. Let me think about it. That’s interesting. Maybe I should change my mind.’” . . .
When is the last time you can honestly remember a public dialogue — or even a private conversation — that followed that useful course?
One voice began to echo through the night. One voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune — but sung with great enthusiasm.
One voice became two — and two became three.
— Admiral McRaven
Ah, the pooh-poohers of possibility:
Forever on the front lines of lowering the bar while I’m trying to raise it — you’ve been a constant companion almost all my life.
Where would I be without you?
Remember that guitar in a museum in Tennessee
And the nameplate on the glass brought back twenty melodies
And the scratches on the face
Told of all the times he fell
Singin’ every story he could tell . . .
It was as if they had looked at all the possibilities Rock had to offer, and built their music out of only the best parts . . . Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made music like the last of the true believers. They gave back to their audience what they took from Rock & Roll themselves . . . the best of everything.
Sounds like a good way to build a country — but that’s me.
The best of everything: Imagine! Yeah, yeah, yeah — I know it would never be like “the best” above or even close. But come on! We could at least do something in that spirit, couldn’t we? I can see that each side makes more sense on some things: Why can’t you?
V for Victory — How Fitting . . .
A world where you can win an argument without even knowing what the issue is about. How you behave in denying the undeniable daily would be unthinkable for me to do ever.
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
— Attributed to Mark Twain
Imagine America as an engine and you come along with a cross-section of it to explain why it’s not working. Since your audience shares your concerns, you’d think they’d be interested in understanding the internals of the problem. But they spend all their time talking about parts made by people they don’t like — never considering the defects in their own parts.
And even though you’ve got a rock-solid idea for how to fix the engine (or at least make it run on reason): They’d rather spend the rest of their lives complaining about problems than take responsibility for their part in creating them. The image above is for my 15-part series on factions acting as force fields of fallacy for the Left & Right: Shielding you from the whole truth while you’re pursuing part of it believing you’re after all of it.
I’ve always hated Twitter and when I’m done doing what I gotta do — I’m never goin’ back. Until then, I’m sending out a certain set of messages looking for intelligent life (fiercely independent thinkers who want to solve problems — not endlessly talk about them).
Think of my signals as a poor man’s SETI:
I’ve got an idea — and it’s got teeth
There’s a way we can harness folly from the past for the benefit of the future.
A.K.A. Learning
It’s as outside-the-box as it gets but rooted in timeless truths America made outdated. I’ve already done all the work: I just need a little help in having it land in the right hands. I have a very specific target audience to get this in gear, so it wouldn’t take much.
One email could set off a chain of events that could open the door to the kind of conversation this nation’s never had.
To the uneducated, abstract ideas are unfamiliar; so is the detachment that is necessary to discover a truth out of one’s own knowledge and mental effort. The uneducated person views life in an intensely personal way — he knows only what he sees, hears or touches and what he is told by friends.
As the unknown sage puts it, “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”
But more than ever, even the most educated minds act in an uneducated manner in service of their interests — and do catastrophic damage by doing so.
Even the best of the bunch are part of the problem they’re trying to solve.
Going by the galaxies filled with rock stars of reasoning across the social media universe — I should have no shortage of people eager to examine my idea and discuss how we could improve on it and proceed. You tell me where those people are and I’ll gladly send out my signals to them.
If you’re not interested in hearing me out and having meaningful conversation — we have nothing to talk about and I wish you well. But if you’re game for good old-fashioned conversation — please contact me through the site, Anchor.Press.gg@gmail.com, or DM (Direct Message) on Twitter: As I no longer respond to Tweets or superficial fragments of any kind.
My idea is simple
Cutting through our Crap is King culture to get you to see it — is not.
But believe it or not, Thomas Sowell could turn the tide in a way no other could. Have you ever heard of anyone taking someone to task for the purpose of putting them in a positive light that could change the course of history?
That sounds intriguing — but that’s me.
Conventional methods have repeatedly failed and won’t put a pinprick in the atmosphere of absurdity suffocating the country. It’s high time to take another approach. If we don’t take a long, hard look at what America has become and how we got here — we will not see a return to some semblance of recognizing reality in our lifetime. As my videographer perfectly put it:
We finally figured out what we were doing by the end
If we don’t change course as a country — we won’t. Mark my words: Your ways will seal that fate.
Wouldn’t it be something if sharing ideas & information were like sharing music? When I came across this recording of one of my all-time favorite songs, I couldn’t believe I’d missed out on this masterpiece for most of my life. I loved the one I knew, but now I’ll never listen to it again — as their heavenly harmonies are on a whole other level on this track.
Imagine the beauty and possibilities America is missing out on by boxing yourselves into what you know . . .
And what you think you know.
One Voice Became Two 